Ginger Josie In Wartime
Ann Flint
Paperback
(Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd., May 22, 2015)
It is no wonder the other mothers don't want their clean, tidy, be-ribboned little girls to play with Josie. Josie is a tomboy with ginger hair and according to the other mothers "plays too rough". Josie spends most of her spare time with the gang of boys from her street and in spite of the war they manage to have great fun and adventures. The book gives a flavour of life for children at that time and how they coped with the blackouts, air raids and rationing! Ann Flint now lives in Yorkshire but her story is set in the area of her childhood where stray and 'dumped' bombs were more common. Ann's children and grandchildren often asked "what was it like in the war?" and would listen with rapt attention to her stories. Ann also went into schools at their request to answer questions, later realising that verbal accounts from those who had been there would eventually cease to be available so Ann decided to write it all down. All of these events really happened.